It's the doll versus the bomb! In this installment of verses, we’re pitting “Barbie” against “Oppenheimer.”
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00:00 "In triggering that, they might destroy the entire world, but they went ahead and they pushed that button anyway.
00:04 And that for me, that's the most dramatic situation I've ever heard of."
00:09 Welcome to WatchMojo, and in this installment of Versus, we're pitting Barbie against Oppenheimer.
00:14 "Did you bring your rollerblades?"
00:16 "I literally go nowhere without them."
00:18 Both of these cinematic events are priority viewing, but which July 21st release reigns supreme?
00:24 It's time for the ultimate showdown of counter-programming.
00:28 This is our deep dive into Barbenheimer, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bombshell.
00:34 Which movie are you seeing first? Let us know in the comments.
00:38 Hey, Mojoholics! For a chance to win cash prizes,
00:43 play our live daily trivia challenges every day at 3pm and 8pm Eastern, only at watchmojo.com/play.
00:54 Margot Robbie couldn't be more perfectly cast as Barbie, authentically portraying a seemingly stereotypical doll brimming with layers of humanity.
01:02 "What's going on? Why are these men looking at me?"
01:05 Ryan Gosling is equally well-suited for the clueless Ken, making the character lovable even at his lowest.
01:11 Living up to the mentality that Barbie can be anything, their world is populated with A-list talent,
01:17 including Issa Rae's President Barbie, Alexandra Shipp's Writer Barbie, and Kate McKinnon's Weird Barbie.
01:23 "I'm Weird Barbie, I am in the splits, I have a funky haircut and I smell like basement."
01:27 "Oh my god, I had a weird Barbie!"
01:30 We have to roll out the pink carpet for the real-world cast too.
01:33 Will Ferrell brings his signature energy to the Mattel CEO, and America Ferreira delivers the monologue of a lifetime as Gloria.
01:40 Plus, Helen Mirren as the narrator? You spoil us, movie!
01:44 "The dolls were always and forever baby dolls. Until..."
01:52 Cillian Murphy has been an underappreciated actor for far too long.
01:56 In that sense, he is the ideal candidate to play J. Robert Oppenheimer,
02:00 who flew under the radar until getting involved in the Manhattan Project.
02:04 "We're in a race against the Nazis. And I know what it means if the Nazis have a bomb."
02:13 Murphy's nuanced performance is one for the ages, but he's not alone.
02:18 Robert Downey Jr. gives his most transformative performance in years as the intensely bitter Louis Strauss.
02:24 "The Russians have a bomb. We're supposed to be years ahead of them, but..."
02:27 "What were you guys doing in Los Alamos?"
02:32 The cast is a who's who of Oscar winners, like Matt Damon, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh,
02:38 as well as character actors like David Krumholz, Benny Safdie, and Tom Conti.
02:42 Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh also command the screen as the two loves of Oppenheimer's life.
02:48 We would love to give both of these casts a SAG Award.
02:51 The Barbie ensemble exuberates with comedic flair,
02:54 while Oppenheimer engulfs the screen with powerhouse performances.
02:58 There are no small roles in either film, but if we're homing in on the lead roles,
03:04 we're giving a slight edge to Oppenheimer for Murphy's career best work.
03:08 After being underrated for so long, he is finally front and center.
03:13 Point, Oppenheimer.
03:14 Imagine Palm Springs crossed with the Barbie Isle of Toys R Us.
03:22 Then you'd get Barbie Land, a paradise draped in such childlike wonder
03:26 that it drove Greta Gerwig to tears when she first stepped on set.
03:30 "It is the best day ever, and so is yesterday, and so is tomorrow,
03:33 and every day from now until forever!"
03:36 Sarah Greenwood's attention to detail amounts to a revelation of production design,
03:40 creating a living, breathing world comprised of plastic and pink.
03:44 "When you show up and everything is like this explosion of
03:47 texture and color and production design."
03:50 Speaking of which, the film reportedly caused an international shortage of pink paint.
03:55 The backgrounds replicate the feel of a soundstage Technicolor musical.
03:59 It's artificial, but we want to escape to this dreamland, if only to raid Barbie's wardrobe.
04:05 Costume designer Jacqueline Duren has topped herself.
04:08 A master of practical filmmaking,
04:10 Christopher Nolan cut no corners in recreating the Manhattan Project.
04:14 "Build a town, build it fast.
04:16 We don't let scientists bring their families, we'll never get the best."
04:20 While various interior scenes were filmed at the actual Los Alamos,
04:23 the exteriors were made from the ground up,
04:26 with the 21,000-acre Ghost Ranch in New Mexico providing a seamless backdrop.
04:31 Nolan also shot at the White Sands Proving Ground where the Trinity nuclear test was conducted,
04:36 although the 100-foot steel tower had to be made from scratch.
04:39 Just as Ruth Dejong's sets are practical, so is the key explosion set piece,
04:44 which is awe-inspiring and horrifying all at once.
04:48 Exquisitely shot and scored, Oppenheimer is an all-around immersive experience.
04:53 Barbie and Oppenheimer feel like throwbacks to a golden age when
04:57 filmmakers were not afraid to build physical set pieces.
05:00 As engaging as Oppenheimer's period production values are,
05:04 Barbie transports us to another world, which is why we go to the movies.
05:09 Barbie takes this round.
05:10 Round 3 - Direction
05:12 Whether she's putting a fresh spin on the coming-of-age genre or
05:16 reinventing classic literature for a new generation, you should never doubt Greta Gerwig.
05:21 Regardless, when it was announced that this auteur was making a Barbie movie,
05:25 we were overcome with a mix of confusion and excitement.
05:28 It turned out to be another brilliant career move, however.
05:32 "Making a Barbie movie is remembering your childhood."
05:35 Gerwig possesses the wit and self-aware edge to paint a portrait of Barbie
05:39 that can appeal to all generations.
05:42 Just as integral, Gerwig brings an emotional pull to the story that encompasses Barbie's past,
05:47 present, and future in the zeitgeist,
05:49 showing how the character reflects society and how we reflect upon her.
05:54 "You can go back to your regular life, or you can know the truth about the universe."
05:58 "The choice is now yours."
06:00 "The first one, the high heel."
06:02 From superhero blockbusters to mind-bending original concepts,
06:06 Christopher Nolan is a director who keeps us coming back to the theaters.
06:09 Oppenheimer is in the spirit of his past works,
06:12 yet not quite like anything else in his filmography.
06:15 "For me, Oppenheimer's story is the most dramatic story I've ever encountered.
06:19 It's as simple as that."
06:20 Whereas Dunkirk was perhaps his most visually driven film,
06:23 Oppenheimer may be the most dialogue-heavy.
06:26 Even when the characters are standing in a room discussing complicated science and politics, though,
06:30 we sense the weight of every word and the urgency revolving around them.
06:34 "It's about unleashing a strong force...
06:37 before the Nazis do."
06:41 Even at its most intimate, the film feels epic on a technical and thematic scale.
06:47 What's going on inside our protagonist's head is just as gripping
06:50 as the external endeavor of crafting the atomic bomb.
06:54 In an age where so many big studio directors find themselves at the mercy of executives
06:59 who want to play it safe,
07:00 Gerwig and Nolan are among the few remaining artists seeing their ambitious visions through.
07:05 Both have outdone themselves, but Nolan is at his directorial apex with Oppenheimer.
07:11 Nolan accomplishes what few filmmakers have,
07:15 not only making us feel the gravitas of the explosion,
07:18 but also making the people surrounding it every bit as engrossing.
07:22 Oppenheimer blows up this round.
07:24 Barbie and existential crisis might seem like an odd fit.
07:32 After seeing Gerwig's take on this IP, though, you will never be able to separate the two.
07:37 "Most of my Barbie dolls came into my house from, like, girls in the neighborhood,
07:40 like, hand-me-downs, so they've been pretty loved."
07:42 Barbie isn't just a movie about feminism.
07:45 It's about individuality and what it means to be human.
07:47 "Do you guys ever think about dying?"
07:51 [Gunshot]
07:54 Some see Barbie as an empowering figure,
07:56 while others argue that she's perpetuated ideas designed to set society back.
08:01 Neither is wrong, per se, but neither is a definitive definition of Barbie either.
08:05 As much as people want to put Barbie into one box, she cannot be contained.
08:10 "No one rests until this doll is back in a box."
08:14 Barbie has evolved beyond even what her creator ever envisioned,
08:18 mirroring the journey we all experience from childhood to adulthood.
08:22 "You make them weird by playing too hard."
08:24 To some, Oppenheimer is an American hero who ended World War II.
08:28 "World War II would be over. Our boys would come home."
08:32 Others argue that Oppenheimer ended one conflict only to create another tragedy.
08:36 Even this film's portrayal of Oppenheimer is torn on his own legacy,
08:40 which is what makes him such a fascinating figure.
08:43 "I think he was naive, you know, and I think he did believe that this could end all war."
08:47 Despite the wartime backdrop, Nolan cleverly shows next to no combat in this film.
08:53 The real war here is the one brewing inside Oppenheimer as he comes to terms with his creation,
08:58 and whether he should be celebrated or punished for it.
09:01 "You are the man who gave them the power to destroy themselves,
09:05 and the world is not prepared."
09:08 As talky as the script is, Murphy brings out most of Oppenheimer's depth through subtle gestures.
09:14 There's so much happening inside, but he resists unleashing the atomic torment.
09:20 "How he navigated that for himself was very complex and kind of unusual."
09:26 The search for one's identity and the fear of nuclear warfare are both relevant topics,
09:30 making for two captivating character studies.
09:33 However, Barbie's philosophical journey is one that can resonate with everyone in the audience.
09:38 If you weren't thinking about life, death, and our very existence going into the theater,
09:44 all of the above will be on your mind walking out.
09:46 "Humans only have one ending."
09:49 "Get that Barbie!"
09:50 It might sound strange, but the deepest film of 2023 centers on a doll. It's all tied up now.
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10:13 Round 5. Reception
10:15 With a certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and the coveted Must-See label on Metacritic,
10:21 Barbie is a critical darling. At the box office, the film has attracted the most promising presales
10:26 since Avatar The Way of Water, with the average Barbie doll standing 11 and a half inches tall.
10:31 Don't be surprised if she finds herself on the shelf with a 13 and a half inch gold man named
10:36 Oscar. It wouldn't be Mattel's first Best Picture nominee, having produced 1972's Sounder.
10:42 In addition to technical categories, we could see Barbie receiving nominations for a couple
10:47 of performances, as well as Gerwig and Noah Baumbach's screenplay. It may not be a traditional
10:53 Oscar movie, but neither was everything everywhere all at once. While both films have enthralled
10:59 critics, the reviewers for Oppenheimer are slightly more glowing. At the box office,
11:04 Oppenheimer isn't expected to make as much as Barbie, but both should benefit from being an
11:09 unofficial double feature. In terms of awards, Oppenheimer is the more traditional player,
11:15 but it's by no means undeserving of such recognition.
11:18 "With location shooting or sets, the more things can just be real,
11:22 the better they're going to feel to the audience."
11:25 "There's almost no studio work on this film."
11:26 We can see a future where Murphy gets his first Oscar nomination,
11:30 Downey Jr. wins his first Oscar, and Oppenheimer dominates the tech categories.
11:35 When it comes to Nolan and the Oscars, it feels like we always get our hopes up.
11:39 However, this might be the best shot he's ever had at an overdue Best Director win.
11:45 "Chris makes films for theaters, for movie-going audiences.
11:49 You know, so you want to see that as it's designed to be seen."
11:52 Honestly, it's unfair to compare these two great films. Both can appeal to different
11:57 audiences in different ways. Yet both are bold artistic achievements about the human
12:01 condition that define why we love cinema. It's apples and oranges, but when all is said and
12:07 done, we think Oppenheimer will leave a slightly bigger dent in the movie-going pantheon.
12:11 Oppenheimer is our ultimate winner. But remember, there's no Barbenheimer without Barbie, either.
12:17 "That's impossible."
12:18 Tune in next time when we pit Mamma Mia against The Dark Knight, aka The Dark Mama.
12:23 "His story is monumental and epic and extraordinary. It really has to be seen
12:28 on the big screen to be believed."
12:30 Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo.
12:33 And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
12:38 [music]
12:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]